Frank Girardot: Notes on New Year’s Eve and the Rose Parade in Pasadena

Nothing against The Cardinal, but here at the Pasadena Star-News we’re all about Sparty this year.

In fact, as you tourists roll down the parade route over the next few days take a moment to check out our fresh and sweet new awning at 911 E. Colorado. It’s green and white. Need I say more?

Truth be told. I have a soft spot for the Spartans.

My first piece of sports memorabilia was a Michigan State pennant my dad bought me in 1966 when he took me to a game in East Lansing. It stayed on my bedroom wall in Michigan, Illinois and California. It was something I looked at every day until I moved out of my parents’ house in 1979.

There are several other reasons to root for the Spartans on Wednesday. Here are just a few important ones for Angelenos:

• MSU had the greatest basketball player of all time on its roster: Magic Johnson.

• Before he nailed the most amazing World Series home run ever, Kirk Gibson attended Michigan State.

• They are not The Ohio State.

FUN STUFF...

One of the really great things to do in Pasadena on New Year’s Eve is check out the cars on Colorado Boulevard. I love how all the car clubs get together for their runs on the home stretch of historic Route 66. If you are an Instagram fanatic be prepared to get some great shots. If you like Low Rider Magazine, expect to see some of the rides that have made the cover.

DOS AND DONUTS...

I love how the cops and the Fire Department always have this huge list of stuff you can’t do overnight on the Rose Parade route. Among the ones you should heed for a boring New Year’s Eve? No “Silly String.” No tortillas. No bonfires. No ladders. No couches. No marshmallows. No alcohol. No weed.

If it’s really fun it’s probably against the law.

For the most part no one really pays attention. If you really need to get rid of a crappy couch, bring it out to Colorado Boulevard tomorrow. If the cops don’t take it, the garbage men will. That’s the definition of a win-win. It’s also the Pasadena Way.

If you are really intent on sleeping on the street overnight, there is some stuff that hasn’t been outlawed yet. That list includes cigarettes, vapes, McDonalds, zipping two sleeping bags together, smart cars, and biodegradeable toilet paper.

SURE IT’S NICE HERE BUT...

Baseball legend Jackie Robinson never came back.

And there’s a reason. Pasadena in the 1920s and 1930s might well have been Birmingham or Montgomery, Alabama. Even the KKK marched in the 1914 Rose Parade.

Author David Falkner in his book “Great Time Coming: The Life of Jackie Robinson from Baseball to Birmingham” notes: “...The segregation of races was nearly as strict as in the South ... At almost every point of daily contact, a person of color in Pasadena was made to understand that doors were closed and life was limited.”

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In the 1970s Pasadena tore down Jackie Robinson’s boyhood home. His legacy burns brightest at Pasadena City College. In the 1990s the city erected an unusual statue of Jackie and his brother Mack Robinson outside City Hall on North Garfield Avenue.

ANYWAY...

If you are here for the first time, welcome to the San Gabriel Valley and Pasadena.

There’s lots more to the area than our annual parade and football game.

If you like food, check out the exotic cuisine in Alhambra and Monterey Park. If you like sightseeing, Griffith Park is not too far away. The Redondo Beach Pier is another fun spot and a nice alternative to Santa Monica.

Michigan State, you are welcome to come back often and soon.

Stanford, thanks for playing.

Frank Girardot is the editor of the Pasadena Star-News and author of “Name Dropper: Investigating the Clark Rockefeller Mystery.” Follow him at twitter.com/FrankGirardot or Facebook.com/crimesceneblog.